Since the 1980's graphical user interfaces have become the primary interface between users and computer systems. Graphical user interfaces present information to computer users in a simple and intuitive manner. For example, most current word processors employ a main window with What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get (WYSIWYG) display of the document and a set of graphical tool icons displayed on a tool bar for editing the document.
Many users wish to alter a graphical user interface to adapt the graphical user interface to their particular personal preferences. To implement such personalization, many graphical user interface systems allow a user to select color schemes, alter the appearance of the graphical user interface icons, modify the contents of the pull-down menus, and adjust the tools that available on a particular toolbar.
Although some graphical user interface systems allow users to customize some aspects of the graphical user interface, the amount of customization allowed is limited and the customization that is available is not very intuitive. In fact, some operating systems provide such limited customization that is difficult to use that a user is forced to purchase an add-on extra product if better customization is desired. Even with the add-on pack, the user is forced to select from a set of pre-defined graphical user interface settings. Thus, it would be desirable to provide users with a more flexible and easier to use graphical user interface customization tool.